I was going to write a post on how rent works (yawn), but the bassie is just too pretty. This model was interesting. It's a bit like a jigsaw puzzle where the pieces don't actually fit together but you can clearly see the picture. It doesn't come with instructions, but with about a dozen parts, it was no big deal, although I couldn't have done it a year ago. It also assumes you've put together so many chimeras that you can do it in your sleep (I've got 10 chimera chassis', so I can).
Most of the parts are for the highly detailed interior, which I promptly hid by gluing on the rear door. The model went together using several sub-assemblies that needed to be clipped and trimmed to tightly slide into place. As with a lot of Forge World stuff, this model is somewhere between a kit and a model. A model you simply put together while a kit needs your creative input. The recommended age for Forge World models is 16, the highest age I've seen for anything in the game trade.
Overall it's a very pretty design, but I couldn't help thinking this $90 kit would have been cheaper if they had kept it simple. My costs were reduced by quite a bit when I realized I had the chimera chassis from an aborted enclosed basilisk project. The Forge World kit comes with all the chimera sprues (but no decals). This means I can re-sell a complete chimera in the store, which should save me about $30.
The next step is contemplating stowage. There's an excellent article on the Forge World site where the modeler went nuts with accessories and stowage. Unfortunately, I think it detracts from the hard, slab sided look of this vehicle, so I may run it very minimal. Also, when it comes to artistic composition, my other basilisks (I have three) have lots of stowage, meaning when they're all together, it's perfectly acceptable to have a more bare bones one (or you could argue it the other way).
I'm hoping to have it ready for Monday's league game. We're talking about playing Planetstrike, so I could conceivably field all four of my basilisks if I'm a defender.
